You may have to read this one twice: The Cincinnati Bengals have swept both Baltimore and Pittsburgh this year, and are a legitimate contender in the AFC. What were the odds? I know Ocho said they’d go 12-4 before the season started, but really, who listens to him (other than me)? What more does this team have to do? Somehow they were touchdown underdogs against a Steeler team that hadn’t shown anything offensively for over a month. Perhaps now respect will be had in the Queen City. The Bengal defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times and pressured him all game long—and this is the important part—without blitzing. They also managed to bottle up the Steelers’ rushing attack and held the defending champs without a touchdown. Cincy simply out-Steelered the Steelers. They scored a non-offensive touchdown (a Bernard Scott 96-yard kickoff return) and played solid defense to secure a big win. At 7-2 the Bengals are now in first place ahead of the 6-3 Steelers…but they’re really two games ahead of Pittsburgh because they own the tiebreaker having swept them. Who Dey indeed.
The Giants had their best weekend in a month…and they didn’t even play. Perhaps that’s why it was such a good weekend. Philly, Dallas and Atlanta all lost. Big Blue should petition for another bye week. Dallas blew an opportunity by dropping a decision to Green Bay. The Packers found a defense all of a sudden and managed to hold Dallas to seven garbage time points. The blitzing packages Dom Capers defense threw at Tony Romo worked and will no doubt be emulated by Dallas opponents from now on. Dallas’ is an offense which needs to get into a flow and the blitzing prevented that. The Dallas play-calling also contributed to the lack of flow. How they ran the ball only 14 times is beyond me, but hey—they’d won four in a row and are still in first place so I can’t give ol’ Wade Phillips too much grief. Yet.
However, I’m happy to say that I can most certainly give Andy Reid some more grief. Here’s all you need to know: the man was out-coached by Norv Turner. G’night everyone! Seriously—Reid once again showed why he’s one of the most overrated coaches in the league. He’s terrific at preparing his team, but can’t coach that team on Sunday and that sort of matters. He wasted a couple of timeouts again; one halfway through the third quarter and another with 8:34 left in the game. The latter was used after a running play on 3rd and 2 which lost two yards. The Eagles went for it on 4th and 4, but Philly couldn’t—and has NEVER been able to—run the ball in short yardage situations and time was their enemy at that point. Donovan McNabb threw the ball 55 times, but the one time a run should have been avoided, Reid thought it was a good idea. How many years will it take before Reid does something to address his team’s inability to run the ball with the game on the line? Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Philly had a first and goal from the Chargers’ one. They failed to punch it in after a run, an incomplete pass and another run. That Reid decided to kick the field goal on 4th down speaks volumes, but he has no one to blame but himself. The first three times the Eagles had the ball inside the San Diego 20, they had to settle for field goals…because they cannot run the ball in those situations. Meanwhile, the Chargers scored four touchdowns in their journeys into scoring range. Philly did score twice from close range later in the game, but the hole had been dug and they would not escape it. Until Philadelphia can run the ball in short yardage situations, they’re not a threat to win anything.
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